Description: In October of 2022, the SRT produced a report entitled “Endangered Species Act Status Review Report: Sunflower Sea Star (Pycnopodia helianthoides),” which served as the basis of a positive 12-month finding proposing that the sunflower sea star be listed as a threatened species. We are seeking peer review of this report to ensure that the best available scientific and commercial data and knowledge has been identified and utilized, and that the conclusions of the report are justified.
ID: ID454 Info. Type: Influential Scientific Information
Start date of Peer Review: March 29, 2023
Estimated Initial Dissemination Date: July 28, 2023
Actual Dissemination Date of peer review report and final work product: TBD
Contact Person: CDR Jonathan R. Heesch, NOAA Get contact information
Review Type: Peer
Expected Number of Peer Reviewers: 4-5
Peer Reviewers will be selected by: Agency
Will the public, including scientific or professional societies, be asked to nominate potential peer reviewers? No
Will there be opportunities for the public to comment on the work product to be peer reviewed? Yes
How: Public and peer review of the status review report will occur concurrently. All public comments must be submitted electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov/document/NOAA-NMFS-2021-0130-0038 by clicking the “Comment” icon, completing the required fields, and entering or attaching comments.
When: March 29 – May 15, 2023.
Will the agency provide significant and relevant public comments to the peer reviewers before they conduct their review? No, but Peer reviewers may access this site at any time during the open review period. Substantive public and peer review comments on the status review report will be addressed in the final rule conveying the listing determination for the sunflower sea star.
Primary disciplines or expertise needed in the review: Peer reviewers will be selected to ensure evaluation by biologists, marine ecologists, pathologists, statisticians, modelers, expert opinion synthesis tool users, and status assessment experts familiar with the sunflower sea star, sea star wasting disease, temperate echinoderms, state-space modeling, other data-limited population assessment modeling methods, and the application of status assessment processes pertinent to the ESA, as available.
Comments on Peer Review:
Status Review: Report; Report App A
Peer review report and final work product: TBD